Kamuzu’s lawyer Clive Stanbrook mourned

Tributes have been pouring in following the death of Clive Stanbrook (Queen’s Counsel- QC), a well-known British lawyer who represented Malawi’s founding president Kamuzu Banda in the infamous Mwanza murders case in 1995.

Stanbrook, 70, died last Saturday in his sleep at his base in Brussels, Belgium.

Politician and private practice lawyer Gustav Kaliwo, who was one of Stanbrook’s closest associates in Malawi, described the death as shocking.

Died last week: Stanbrook

“It is a shock. He was great gentleman, apart from the fact that he was a brilliant lawyer who specialised in European Union [EU] law.

“We worked with him and built a good friendship so much that he invited me to his house in Brussels and also to his daughter’s wedding in the United Kingdom [UK]. He even allowed me to practise at his chambers in London. So, he was to me a mentor and a close friend. My thoughts are with his wife Julia and his children,” he said.

Kaliwo also said the deceased was so closely attached to Malawi that he even bought a farm in Balaka, Toleza Agricultural Enterprises, where he did a lot to improve people’s lives around the area.

She said the deceased will be buried in London, UK, on a day to be announced by the family later.

In October 2015, while addressing a Cancer Society’s luncheon in Belgium, Stanbrook revealed that he had twice survived cancer.

Dubbed the trial of the century, Banda, his official hostess Cecilia Tamanda Kadzamira and politician John Tembo were charged with conspiracy to murder three Cabinet ministers and a member of Parliament (MP) and conspiracy to defeat justice by destroying evidence.

The three ministers were Dick Matenje, Aaron Gadama, John Twaibu Sangala and David Chiwanga, a parliamentarian.

But High Court Judge Mackson Mkandawire, assisted by a jury of seven, withdrew the charges against the three accused due to lack of evidence and they were acquitted on both charges.